Brick by yellow brick
by LadyJessYU
Summary: Young Regina is pushed into an adventure where she makes unlikely friends and enemies. Or Regina meets Oz. I know it's a bad summery, but give it a try.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything**

"Regina! That is it! Where is that damn dog?"

Once again her dog was chasing cats around the garden and made a mess. Regina knew they were in trouble and hid behind her bedroom door. It was foolish to hope that something like this would escape Cora's attention. And she knew by her mother's angry that this would not end well.

"Come here this instant you cowardly girl! And bring that pest of yours," after getting no response she added "Don't make me find you myself."

'Please don't use magic. Please don't use magic. Please don't use magic.' Regina prayed silently as she stepped in front of Cora.

"But mother he was just playing around. I don't think…"

"Of course you don't think," Cora interrupted harshly. "How can you without a brain. I'm done with your foolishness. You act like a wild peasant girl running around barefoot with animals."

Only then did Regina notice her dirty feet and that her blue and white checked dress also had brown spots of mud on it. But she loved running in the fields. It made her feel free. And clothes can always be washed and mended.

"I was just having fun mother." she said adding a little chuckle in the end in hope of lighting the mood.

"Well it stops now," Clearly, it didn't work. "You are now old enough to stop with the nonsense and start thinking about your future. You will not find a suitable husband acting like that. Now about that dog…"

Regina squeezed her only friend tightly as if her body could protect him from Cora's wrath. As she closed her eyes in fear she heard the squeak of the door.

"Honey…" with that Henry interrupted whatever horror was about to happen.

Regina opened her eyes and fixed them on his, pleading for help. She always had hope that her daddy would help. He understood her and she understood him. Of course he rarely could help when it came to mother, but as always she hoped.

"What?" Cora snapped at him. "The guests are here." he said his eyes not leaving Regina's for one moment. Hopefully that would give her strength not to cry. Cora didn't like crying, it showed weakness.

"Oh my! The count and his wife are here already." she exclaimed joyfully her posture changing instantaneously.

She turned towards Regina giving her a supercilious smile indicating that her public mask was on. "Oh my darling you know that I only want what is best for you." she said while stroking her hair. Regina nodded and tried her best to smile and keep the tears from rolling down the cheeks. She knew mother wanted the best for her, but sometimes she felt like a puppet being controlled all the time. "Now stay room and do not come out until tomorrow. We will continue this then." With that she left the squeezed her arm reassuringly. But she could see the hopelessness in his eyes as he turned and run after his wife.

As soon as they left the room Regina let herself crumble to the floor not letting go of her friend. Sensing Regina's heart beat faster and louder he nuzzled against her neck trying to comfort her. She looked at him and smiled. "Oh don't worry Toto. I have a plan," she said her voice sounding more determined with each word. "We are running away."

**To be continued? I like the idea of Regina as Dorothy, it kind of makes sense to me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: All I own are grammar and spelling mistakes**

Regina found herself standing by a bridge trying to discern her house in the distance. And Toto was standing next to her, staring at her inquisitively.

"Don't look at me like that. Just let me think." she said as she was trying to remember how she got here. She vaguely remembers taking a small bag, putting some clothes in it and then hurrying away from the house down the narrow dirt road. And now she was here and scared, she never acted this impulsively. Taking a deep breath would help her clear her mind. But she couldn't conjure one coherent thought. The only thing clear in her mind was the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

"Are you lost, dearie?" she turned suddenly towards the source of the sound and saw a man at the other end of the bridge. It was an elderly man in an extravagant wear. He was dressed in a dark leather pants, a khaki shirt and a red west. He wore a sympathetic expression on his face, but there was still something strange in the way his eyes almost glowed.

"I … I'm fine, thank you." it took her a moment, but she managed to mumble a response.

They eyed each other for a moment not both trying to decide what next to say.

"Come along," he gestured for her to fallow. "Nothing to be afraid of. At least drink a glass of water and rest for a while. You look like you need it."

"I guess I do." she said, carefully approaching the strange man. When she reached him, she noticed the small caravan on the side of the road. It had a big sign on the side saying 'Professor Stiltskin, a psychic and a puppet master'.

"Well don't just stand there, come in." he said hurrying her inside.

Regina entered cautiously, Toto right behind him. The small room was framed by shelves filled with strange looking puppets, vials containing liquids of various color, candles, books and other odd objects. The only other furniture in the room was a small wooden table and two chairs.

"Sit, sit. Rest." her host insisted.

"What's a psychic?" Regina inquired eying the crystal ball on the table.

He smiled gently and answered. "It means that I can see past, present and future. For example, I can sense that you are… on a journey? Visiting relatives? No, no, no don't tell me," he stopped her before she could interject. "You are running away!"

"How did you know?" Regina asked in astonishment.

"I'm a psychic, weren't you listening. But the important question is why you are running away… They don't understand you at home," noticing Regina's barely audible gasp, he continued. "They don't appreciate you. You want to have an adventure, to freely enjoy time with your friend!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

"Incredible! It's like you can read my mind! Toto no, that's not polite." she warned him as she saw him trying to reach for one of the vials.

"It's fine. It's fine. It's just going to make him… fireproof. He can sure have it," he giggled, poured the liquor into a bowl and gave it to thirsty Toto. "Now, where were we?"

"Please professor, take me with you. I can see you travel a lot and I don't want to go back home. We won't be a bother, I promise."

'Not just yet, dearie.' he thought unable to hide his content smirk. "I have to consult the crystal ball first."

He put his hands on it, closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them the white smoke appeared in the ball. Regina stared at it intently and noticed the blurry image of a field starting to appear. "Hmmm, that's strange…"

"What is it Professor? I cannot see clear image." Regina asked eagerly.

"Because you do not have the gift, dearie... I see a vast green field and horses on it. And a castle, quite petite," he said with a sneer. "Oh I see it now! I see a room with a fireplace and a see a woman in a purple dress…she seems distressed. Can you see it? And a man is there, gripping his chest in pain!" He completed his performance, swiftly removing his hands from the ball like it was on fire.

"Oh I saw it professor! It was barely visible but I know it was Daddy! And he's in pain! I must go to him." she picked Toto up and rushed towards the exit. But when she reached the door, she tuned to thank her host. "Thank you professor, but I can't go with you now. My family needs me. How can I ever repay you for showing me this?"

"Don't worry about it. Just hurry." He replied and waved her goodbye. As she closed the door behind her, Rumpelstiltskin approached one of the shelves, took a magic bean out of a small box and said, smiling wickedly. "You will repay me, dearie. Sooner than you think." Putting the bean in his front pocket he leisurely went after Regina.

**Thanks for reading and fallowing the story**


	3. Chapter 3

**I rewrote this 3 times already, so I'm posting it before I ruin it completely.**

Regina has been running for a long time. She was panting, trying desperately to catch a breath. Feeling exhausted, she had to take a break. However, she didn't have the luxury of resting long; she had to reach home fast. The wind was blowing stronger and stronger, the storm was coming. Dark clouds were slowly approaching. And there was something unnatural about them; it looked like they were fallowing her. They were bringing with them darkness, purple and green lightening emerging from its' center. The thunder they occasionally produced came with an eerie laughter. It reminded her of the laughter she, every now and then, heard in her nightmares. Regina tried to convince herself that she was just imagining things due to a lot of stress. To comfort herself, she took Toto and held him close to her. It made her feel a bit safer and they continued the journey.

Soon it started to drizzle. She had foolishly hoped it would not intensify. As if on cue, the moment the thought crossed her mind the sky seemed to have opened and started pouring on them every drop of rain it had. She started looking frantically around in hope of finding some kind of shelter. Luckily, not far from where she was standing was a cottage. It was a small, run-down cottage, probably abandoned but it would provide a decent shelter from the storm.

She quickly reached the cottage. The door was ajar and she peaked inside. As she predicted, it was abandoned. At that moment the lightning struck a nearby tree and Regina shot inside. She leaned against the old wooden door, Toto jumping from her arms. When she managed to somewhat calm her heart rate down, she looked around the cottage. It consisted of one dingy room. There was a small bed in the corner by the window. Next to it was a bedside table, chipped at the edges. Toto had already found shelter under it. The rain continued to pour, easily finding its' way through the cracks in the roof. The floor was damp. If this continues, the room will be half-flooded by morning. When she inspected the bed she found that, fortunately, the straw-filled mattress was dry.

She sat on it in the darkest corner. The lightning struck again. Toto jumped on the bed and barked at the storm as if that could scare it away. Immediately, he realized his mistake and hid his face behind Regina's back. Trying not to lean on the cold wall, she was keeping balance by hugging her knees. She put the one hand on Toto hoping that her touch would soothe him a bit.

Although Toto calmed down and was half asleep, Regina couldn't sleep a wink. She felt drained but all she could do was stare out of the only window of the cottage, keeping her eyes on the horizon. The storm seemed more alive. It resembled a deadly animal taunting her, dancing around her, stalking its' pray; the thunder and lightning being its' venom, playing tricks on her mind, slowly weakening her.

After a while, she began to doze off. However, with another flash something appeared not far from the cottage. She jumped and glued her face to the window waiting for the lightning to strike again and illuminate the field. Disturbed by her movements, Toto woke up and got to the window. Soon she confirmed her doubts. There was someone outside, a hooded figure approaching. When Toto saw it he started to growl. Regina tried to quiet him down, but he sensed that she was scared too. As the hooded figure was nearing, its' image became more distinct. With one flash of lightning she saw that it was an elderly lanky man. With another she saw his eyes glowing like they were reflecting the storm. Then she saw that his skin was not that of a man but the one of a reptile. She wanted to move, to hide, to run… But then again she couldn't, the fear paralyzed her.

When he got close he stopped and smiled. Toto started to bark. Regina held her breath waiting for the man to move. There was something strangely familiar about him she just couldn't put her finger on it. Then, he took something out of his pocket and threw it towards her. The small object hit the widow. Regina and Toto jumped back and fell to the floor. She looked up and realized that the window didn't break. She jumped back up and rushed towards the window. The man had disappeared. Her eyes searched for the object and found it two feet from the window. She didn't know what it was exactly. It looked like a large, translucent bean. However, she didn't have enough time to think about it because it began to form some sort of a tornado. It rapidly became so strong that it managed to uproot the cottage. The sudden movement jerked Regina from the spot and she started falling. Her head hit something hard and it all went dark.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own anything.**

Pain was the first thing she registered. She rolled over, the pain in her ribs increasing. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing. After couple of moments she mustered enough strength to sit up.

"Toto?" she called, barely recognizing her now hoarse voice.

Toto poked his head from behind the fallen mattress. Seeing he was still frightened, she managed to give him comfort with a weak smile. He relaxed and approached her, putting his head in her palm. With her free hand she felt for the bump on the back of her head. She winced when she touched it. It was smell but it hurt a lot.

She looked out of the window. The brightness entering through it blurred her vision. It took her a while to get used to the bright light but soon she was able to discern the landscape. It was different, she didn't remember sky ever being so blue or trees being so near, and she certainly didn't remember seeing flowers just outside the window.

While trying to figure out what had happened, she heard a rustle outside and jerked towards the noise. Regina looked nervously at Toto and stood up. First she peeped from behind the door, took a deep breath and stepped outside, Toto right behind her. She wondered if she was dreaming or hallucinating because the scene before her was nothing like she'd ever seen before.

It was surreal; the colors were so bright and vivid that it almost hurt to look. She figured she was in a park of some sort. There were trees everywhere, some were like the ones from the Enchanted Forest, but others had orange or purple or red leaves. And the flowers were bigger than any she's ever seen, daisies, tulips and roses maybe triple their size. But the strangest were the small ones which seemed to have been of sea glass. Nearby was a small stone bridge, under which flowed a river of crystal-clear water. The water lilies glided on its' surface like graceful swans.

"I don't know where we are Toto, but we certainly are far from home." she uttered, still amazed by her surroundings.

However, she didn't have the time to revel in the beauty of it all. A white light was hurtling towards them. It stopped inches from her nose. It was a fairy of some sort. She fluttered her wings, tilted her head to the left and stared at Regina inquisitively. She then swiftly flew to the cottage, inspected something and returned. To say Regina was baffled would be an understatement.

"What are you looking…, "her question was interrupted as the fairy turned big "…for?"

"How did you get here? Are you a witch?" the woman inquired not changing her inquisitive expression.

She was all in white, long white dress, little white hat and blonde almost white hair. The only thing not white was her black, hypnotizing, but strangely warm eyes.

"I… I kind of fell?" she stuttered.

"So, you are a clumsy witch?" she asked in a hearty voice.

"No! I am not a witch. I don't even like magic…"

"Why not?" she jumped in. "Magic can be quite nice and it's whole lot of fun." she winked mischievously.

"Magic has never been quite nice to me so… "

"Hmmm… that's curious because... never mind," she waved her thoughts away. "Here, in the land of Oz, I am known as The Witch of the North. And the Munchkins and I want to know who the one who freed them from The Mad Witch of the East is."

"Who? Form whom?" Regina asked, more confused than ever especially because she heard that noise again; the strange giggles coming from the bushes.

"The people of Munchkin land, of course. You are their savior, you killed the witch." she answered as if it was the common knowledge and Regina figured that it probably was here in Oz… wherever Oz was.

"It is safe to come out now. Come and meet your savior!" she called waving her hands theatrically.

What or better yet who came out of the bushes was odd. They were the strangest group of people Regina had ever seen. They were small, but somehow she knew they were not dwarfs. Actually, the tallest among them seemed about as tall as Regina who was average height for a fourteen-year-old. Their clothes were flamboyant and looked new and festive. They were all smiling. When she took a closer look, Regina realized that there was something wrong. Their faces were almost gray like they were literally drained of color. In their hollow eyes exhaustion and despair was clearly visible. Yet, they were giving her forced smiles, probably still afraid to completely remove the masks they were wearing for a long time, afraid that The Mad Which is somehow not dead.

"Why do they look so… tired?"

"Because of the witch who enslaved them," the black-eyed woman could see that Regina was not satisfied with the short answer so she elaborated. "A long time ago, she gave up her heart… well not literally, but she gave up the man she loved for power over this part of the land. She almost immediately regretted it, but it was too late. And because of that she had gone mad. So, she enslaved the Munchkins and made them throw parties in his honor every day, all day; all in hope that he would find out and return to her."

"Yes, yes she was nuts!" two Munchkins close to them said in unison.

"Nuts! And she loved nuts." one of them said, staring impassively at her.

"Nuts?" the other offered handing Regina a small bowl of peanuts.

Regina thanked him and took a few. She was just about to ask something when the older woman exclaimed. "Oh my, you are all dirty and bruised! Why didn't you say something?"

She smiled pinched Regina's nose and a cloud white smoke enveloped her. It cleared after a moment and Regina's clothes were spotless and dry and her head didn't hurt at all. Even Toto barked happily because he too was clean.

She then turned Regina towards the crowd and shouted proudly "Now meet and greet your savior!"

"Hurray! The Savior has come! Hurray!" they all chanted in unison.

"No, please stop. I am not the savior." but they did not hear her. So, she turned to The Witch of the North.

"I am glad they are free, but it was all an accident. I'm not their savior. I'm just Regina"

"Well, 'just Regina' maybe you are you just don't know it yet. I can sense that you have powerful …" a sudden shriek in the crowd was heard leaving the rest of the statement to hang in the air.

They all turned towards it and saw a green smoke clearing and from it emerged a green-skinned woman dressed in black.

**Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Who did it? Who robbed me of my sister? Show yourself!" the green-skinned woman yelled furiously.

The Munchkins bowed their heads in fear. She was turning frantically, looking for the culprit. Once she laid her eyes on Regina, confusion flooded her face. This couldn't be her and yet it couldn't not be her. It took her a moment to regain her wits. Then, with one swift movement of the hand she tossed the Munchkins aside making her way to the girl free.

As the woman gracefully approached her, Regina's eyes grew with fear and at the same time she felt herself shrinking for the same reason.

"You are responsible for this, aren't you girl?" her face was so close to Regina's, she could see the fire in her eyes. The words got stuck in Regina's throat and she couldn't speak.

"She is," The Witch of the North answered proudly. "The savior that has passed the barrier."

Regina turned to her and stared pleadingly in the black eyes. She wanted to beg her to stop saying that, but the words just wouldn't come out.

"Don't worry" she mouthed and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, but Regina couldn't obey.

"A child bested you, sister." the other woman mumbled to herself shaking her head. "What did my dearest sister do to you to deserve such cruel fate?" she turned her head away choking back a sob.

Tears burned at the back of Regina's throat. "It was an accident…"

"I'll show you an accident!" she shouted creating a fireball in her palm.

"Oh, stop torturing the girl!" The Witch of the North hugged Regina defensively. "Stop with charade, your crocodile tears can no longer fool anyone."

"Whatever do you mean?" the younger of the two asked innocently, traces of tears already gone.

"Don't play dumb Elphie, it doesn't suit you."

"Do not call me that! You have no right, not anymore." a crack in her voice did not go unnoticed.

For a moment, which seemed to last forever something passed between them. Regina figured that something had happened between two women, something that affected and still affects them both.

"All right! The Witch of the West it is." she raised her hands in surrender. "You want to know what I mean? When was the last time you saw her?" she didn't wait for the reply. " Months after the deal! You were ashamed of your mad, crippled sister, you never tried to help, never cared. The only reason you're here now is the slippers."

"How dare you! I cared…"

"Oh, I learned the hard way that power is all you ever cared about. But you are too late." she said with smirk.

"What does that mean? What have you done with them?" She demanded to know, panic evident in her voice.

"Here they are." she pointed to Regina's feet. "And here they will stay."

The other two gasped at the sight of the silver slippers, Regina more stunned than The Witch of the West. Even Toto barked and jumped back in surprise.

"Give them to me girl, you have no use of them."

"Don't! She wants them for power."

"You stay out of this!" then she turned to Regina again and smiled gently. "What is your name my pretty?"

"Dorothy! And you cannot hurt her now. So leave before you join your sister."

The angry woman stepped closer to Regina. "You won't always be here, safe. And next time we meet the slippers will be mine I assure you... even if I have to cut them off of you myself." she flasher her a perfect smile and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Regina stared, mouth agape, at the pace where the green witch stood just moments ago.

"Soooo… I guess explanations are in order?" the blonde smiled weakly.

Regina flipped her head towards her, confusion, excitement, anger, despair and fear evident in her glare. She didn't even know she could feel all that at the same time. "You think?! First name, then slippers." she ordered for the first time in her life.

"Dorothy was the first name that popped into my head."

"Really? Not Regina? "

"Names are power. She has a book of ancient spells, she can easily hunt down any person and all she needs is the name and a single hair. It's really dangerous stuff. So, do not tell your name to anyone." she warned. "And the slippers are the most magical item in the land. Everyone covets them, but only the wearer can take them off so…"

"You know what? This is all too much. Just take the slippers and send be back home." She crouched to take them off but the blonde stopped her. She took Regina's hands in hers. "I cannot do that. I neither have the power nor the portal available."

"But how am I to get back then?" Regina asked quietly, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"You go to Emerald City and find the Wizard's palace. He is the only one who can help. And I will go to the south and seek assistance there. The slippers will protect you." she then smiled and started to fly away.

"Wait! How do I get to Emerald City?"

"Just fallow the yellow brick road." She shouted to her and disappeared.

**Any comment? Suggestion? Thanks for reading.  
**


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